


Welcome to the grid, User RKleinberg. Thanks for stopping by.

by fakebodies



Category: Tron (1982)
Genre: AND its gonna be multi-chapter, Gen, Ram is very surprised to see his own user, Roy comes to the grid instead of Flynn, and everyone is a little bit confused, boy oh boy oh boy, ooooo this is the single most self indulgent fic i have ever written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-06-09 07:38:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6895831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fakebodies/pseuds/fakebodies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ram's faith in the Users is restored</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. "Does the name RKleinberg mean anything to you?"

Ram had always believed in the Users. How could he not? His User had spent so much time updating him, patching his code when things started going wrong, and even just checking in. Ram had been to the I/O tower countless times, speaking with his User often. He’d heard so many things from User RKleinberg, it almost felt as if he’d met the User face-to-face. That was impossible, though. Ram knew Users could never enter their world. They had other, more important things to be taking care of.

His faith in the Users is never shaken, not until he derezzes his first program. It’s one thing to play games. It’s another to listen to a program scream as they smash into a jetwall. Ram returns to his cell shaken, sinking to the floor and holding his head in his hands. The program in the cell next to him- Tron, their hero, the program who fought tirelessly in the hopes of someday breaking free -looks over at him.

“That was your first real fight, wasn’t it?”

Ram nods, taking a shuddering breath. How could the Users let something like this happen? Where had RKleinberg gone? He’d always checked in on Ram, and now Ram was here, away from any means of contacting the User that had created him. Had RKleinberg abandoned him for a newer program?

“Stop, Ram. Don’t overthink this. Sark wants you to break.”

“How can the Users allow something like this to happen?”

“I don’t think they’re allowing it, Ram. I think they don’t have any options.”

“But they’re Users.” Ram shakes his head. “They have to have options.”

“Do we? Think of the kind of User the MCP must have. Our Users are probably trying to free us right now.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. There’s not a User out there that doesn’t care for their program.”

* * *

 

As the cycles pass, Ram’s faith starts to fade. Tron’s faith remained strong, and Ram struggled to hold on to his. He’d never let his friend down by joining Sark’s ranks, but he’d never doubted the Users more. The games wear him down and he’s sure he’s going to be derezzed every time he leaves his cell. At least he’s not shaken every time an enemy program gets derezzed.

He’s sad to see Crom moved to another cell block, but the compound interest program just hadn’t been cut out for lightcycle battles. He’d been much better at ring games, and part of Ram was glad his friend had been moved. It meant they didn’t view Crom as enough of a threat that they needed to have him in the more challenging games.

Ram ignores the next program that’s brought in, not feeling much like introducing himself- the other conscript would only be derezzed anyways. He freezes when he hears the program speak, his disc almost dropping to the floor.

“So…this has all got to be a messed up dream, but where am I? I want to write this all down when I wake up.” the program leans closer to the window between their cells.

“I- you’re a guest of the MCP.” Ram glances up to check. The program shared his face, but…what was all that about waking up? Could it really be his _own_ User, here in the cells

“The MCP? Great, now that mess of a program is running things in my dreams, too.”

“Program, does the name RKleinberg mean anything to you?” Ram asks, setting his disc aside.

“RKleinberg is my username, why?”

“It _is_ you.” Ram’s eyes go wide and he stands, finally facing his User. “What are you doing here? I never thought you’d come this far, Users only use the I/O towers to contact us, it’s never been- I didn’t know there was even a way for Users to get here!”

“Whoa, what? What do you mean-“ RKleinberg trails off, looking Ram over. “Are you…a program?”

“Of course, what else would I be?” Ram frowns. “You created me.”

“You’re Ram. You went missing, I couldn’t find your files anywhere, I thought my hard drive had finally crapped out.” RKleinberg runs his hand through his hair. “Wow. I mean, _wow_. This is Encom’s system, then? All the computers and programs on it?”

“Well, yeah, we’re in the Encom system now.” Ram nods. “You can travel between systems if you’ve got enough power, though.”

“So, what is this place? What’s the MCP doing with all of us?”

“He makes us play video games.”

“Video games? Definitely not my department.”


	2. "A User? Here?"

When his User is taken for training, Ram gets a chance to talk with Tron. He’s obviously excited, grinning at the security program. Ram moves closer to the window and Tron sighs, giving Ram a tired smile.

“Who beat the MCP while I was on the game grid?”

“No, nothing like that, but Crom’s cell got filled.”

“Another program?”

“Even better- a User.”

“A _User_?” Tron asks, incredulous. “ _Here_?”

“User _RKleinberg_.” Ram nods.

“Your User is here? In the cells?”

“Can you believe it? I thought I was glitching out when I heard his voice, but it’s really him!”

“Does he have a plan?”

“I…don’t think so.” Ram’s smile falters. “He seemed really confused, I don’t think he expected to be here. I didn’t have time to ask him how he even got here in the first place.”

“That…” Tron frowns, thinking for a moment. “That doesn’t matter. If your User is here, that means all our Users are out there, somewhere. We have no reason to doubt anymore.”

* * *

Despite his claims that ‘video games really weren’t his department,’ Ram’s User held his own pretty well through it all. It took him a while to get used to the lightcycles but that wasn’t uncommon for new conscripts. When he and Tron are next called out to fight, he’s surprised to see Roy as their partner.

“Roy, you’re okay!” he smiles warmly as his User steps up beside them.

“Barely.” Roy huffs, frowning a little when he looks over at Tron. “You must be…Tron, I think? Alan’s program?”

“You know my User?”

“Yeah, we work together at Encom.” Roy nods. “He’s a great guy.”

Tron just nods, looking forward as they’re transported to the game grid. The fight goes about as well as usual, Ram riding easily with Tron. They were a formidable team, and were usually kept separate during games. Sark didn’t want to lose too many programs in one cycle.

When one of Sark’s men skids and crashes into the wall, Roy decides to make a break for it- after all, they’ve got a clear exit and he doesn’t exactly want to spend the rest of his life in a computer. As he makes a break for the hole, he contacts Ram and Tron.

“Are you two coming?”

“Do we look like we want to stay?” Ram grins, turning towards the exit with Tron close by, They manage to slip out before the Recognizer slams down, derezzing the last of Sark’s riders in the process.

The exhilaration doesn’t last long as a group of tanks soon cut them off. As they prepare to dodge through, Roy’s voice says what they’re all thinking.

“Oh, _come on_.”


	3. "What do Users use for energy?"

Ram can hardly believe it when they find an energy source. It had been so long and he was so tired, he leaped down to join Tron and Flynn at the bank. Roy looked suspicious of the glowing energy and he looked even more suspicious when Ram cupped his hands, starting to drink.

“What is that?”

“Energy.” Ram says as he dips his hands back in. “It won’t hurt you.”

Roy gathers some, giving Ram another suspicious look before downing the energy. He lays down next to Ram to get better access to the stream, gathering more.

“That’s incredible, Ram.” he says between handfuls, thanking Ram when he hands his User his identity disc.

“What do Users use for energy?” Ram asks, sitting up.

“Food. I don’t think I can really explain it, there’re so many different kinds and they all taste different.” Roy shrugs, pushing away from the bank and handing Ram his disc back.

“What food do you like?”

“I like popcorn a lot.” Roy shrugs. “Alan makes it all the time in the office, even though the microwave is junk.”

“Microwave?”

“It heats things up, so you can eat them.”

Tron stands, smiling fondly as Ram nods. “Come on, we don’t want to get caught by Sark’s forces. We should keep moving.”

“You’re right.” Ram stands up, following Tron across the energy stream so they can continue towards the I/O tower.

* * *

The tanks aren’t long behind them, though, and soon Ram’s down for the count. He can faintly hear Tron as his vision blurs, and he tries to call out and reassure his friend. He blacks out before he’s able to say a word.

* * *

 

When Ram finally regains consciousness, his User has illuminated the inside of a crashed Recognizer. Ram tries to push himself up, pain flaring as he moves, his circuits lighting up red. Oh, that wasn’t good.

“Hang in there, Ram. I think I can get this thing moving, we’ll get out of here and I’ll fix you up, it’ll all be fine.” Roy glances over his shoulder.

“The crash disrupted too much.” Ram shakes his head, his circuits flashing steadily. He definitely wasn’t going to last long enough for Roy to get them anywhere. Roy abandons the controls in favor of kneeling by Ram’s side, taking his program’s hand.

“Once I’m back out I’ll see what I can do, okay? I always back up my codes.” Roy smiles, and Ram laughs weakly, nodding.

“Always.”

“You’ll be okay, Ram.”

“User-“ he groans, curling in on himself. It hurt _so much_. “User, please, help Tron.”

“I will, Ram. Don’t worry about that.”


	4. "User RKleinberg, do you have a request?"

Roy wasn’t sure what would happen when he reuploaded a backup of Ram. Sure, he could tweak it to match where he’d really left off with the previous Ram, but would he have the same memories? Roy wasn’t even sure if the program would remember Tron, which…well, the two had seemed so close. He can’t imagine them meeting again would end happily.

Still, he’d promised. He’d told Ram not to worry, that he’d make sure he was back on the system, ready to roll. He wasn’t about to break that promise. He settles in for a night of working on the actuarial program, and by the time he’s done he’s absolutely exhausted. He takes a sip of his cold coffee as he waits for the program to respond.

“User RKleinberg, do you have a request?”

Roy asks for the most recent memory files, fingers crossed as the program searches through them. He gets a report of a couple missing memories, but it’s the way Ram responds with “Roy” that gives him hope.

* * *

Ram comes to in an I/O tower with a splitting headache and more than a few questions. Luckily enough, his User is standing by. As he searches through his memory files, things start to come through. A few older files had been lost, but it’s the blurry ones that don’t seem to fit anywhere that worry Ram the most. He really needs to be on the top of his game, he shouldn’t have memories out of place like this.

Especially not ones of his User arriving on the Grid- and were those holding cells? Oh man, Ram was _really_ starting to lose it. Where had those even come from? He looks up into the beam of the tower, squinting slightly.

“User RKleinberg, may I make a request?”

“Go for it.”

“Were you ever on the Grid?”

* * *

Ram comes out of the I/O tower with a new mission. Not one from his User, no, but one of his own. He really needs to track down Tron. Roy had been able to answer his questions and the out-of-place memories were now in their places. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to calling his User “Roy,” though.

He spots a couple programs in the distance, jogging over to them. He grins when he sees who it is, waving as he breaks into a run.

“Hey, Tron!” Ram grins when Tron nearly jumps, turning around to stare at the approaching program.

“Ram? But Roy said-“

“Yeah, I know, but my User always keeps a backup.”

“I’m glad he does.”


End file.
